| Type | wine |
|---|---|
| Colour | red |
Shiraz wine refers to two differentwines. Historically, the name refers to the wine produced around the city ofShiraz inIran.[1][2] In the current era, "Shiraz" is an alternative name for theSyrah grape, mostly used inAustralia andSouth Africa. The modern "Shiraz" grape is identical to Syrah and originated insoutheast France with no established connection to the city of Shiraz.[3]
By the 9th century CE, the city of Shiraz had established a reputation for producing the finest wine in the world,[1] and was Iran's wine capital. The export of Shiraz wine by European merchants in the 17th century has been documented. As described by enthusiastic English and French travellers to the region in the 17th to 19th centuries, the wine grown close to the city was of a more dilute character due toirrigation, while the best[according to whom?] Shiraz wines were actually grown interracedvineyards around the village ofKhollar. These wines werewhite and existed in two different styles: dry wines for drinking young, and sweet wines meant foraging. The latter wines were compared to "an oldsherry" (one of the most prized European wines of the day), and at five years of age were said to have a finebouquet and nutty flavour. The dry white Shiraz wines (but not the sweet ones) were fermented with significantstem contact, which should have made these wines rich intannins.[1]
While travellers have described the wines as white, there seem to be noampelographic descriptions of the vines or grapes.Marco Polo made mention of the wine, and other classical accounts describe vines trained bypulleys and weights to grow up one side of a house and down another.[4]
TheBritish poetEdward FitzGerald later translated theRubaiyat of Omar Khayyam fromPersian language, in which praise is heaped on the Shiraz wines.,[citation needed]
In modernIran, Shiraz wine cannot be produced legally due to the prohibition ofalcohol in Islam. Before theIslamic Revolution in 1979, there were up to 300 wineries in Iran; now there are none. As a whole, Iran is no longer a wine-producing country, althoughIranian Christians are legally allowed to ferment wine.[5]
Despite the name, there is no proven connection between the city of Shiraz and the modern-day red grape variety "Shiraz", planted inAustralia,South Africa,Argentina,Canada, theUnited States, and some other countries.[6][7] The modern Shiraz grape, now known to be identical to theSyrah grape, was brought to Australia byJames Busby, the father ofAustralian wine. Busby travelled through Spain and France collecting vine cuttings that were the foundation of the Australian wine industry.[citation needed]
Wines andwinemaking | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
